Abstract
Viral outbreaks can be experienced as disruptive and can be associated with trauma-related stress symptoms. In the current study, we adjusted the Dutch version of the Impact of Event Scale (IES) to assess traumatic stress symptoms related to the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak. The psychometric properties of this Impact of Event Scale with modifications for COVID-19 (IES-COVID19) were investigated by administering the IES-COVID19 to 380 university students who participated during the early stage of the COVID-19 outbreak, upon invitation via e-mail. Using confirmatory factor analysis, the factor structure of the IES-COVID19 was found to be similar to the original IES, indicating two latent factors: intrusion and avoidance, χ2(85) = 147.51, CFI = .92, TLI = .90, RMSEA = .044, SRMR = .049. Cronbach’s alpha showed acceptable internal consistency of the total IES-COVID19, α = .75. Pearson’s correlations of the IES-COVID19 over time were also sufficient, demonstrating adequate test–retest reliability, r = .62. Significant correlations (ranging between .15 and .50) between the IES-COVID19 and symptoms of depression, anxiety, stress, stress-related rumination, as well as negative social interactions, demonstrate adequate convergent validity. Overall, the IES-COVID19 shows to be a valid and reliable measure that can be utilized to investigate trauma-related stress symptoms of intrusion and avoidance related to the short- and long-term impact of the COVID-19 outbreak.
Highlights
There is a wide consensus that during times of pandemic physical health, and mental health is affected
The current study aims to investigate whether the Impact of Event Scale (IES) can be used to measure the psychological impact of the COVID-19 outbreak
We examined the psychometric properties of the IES-COVID19 by administering it during the early stages of the COVID-19 outbreak in a sample of university students
Summary
There is a wide consensus that during times of pandemic physical health, and mental health is affected. During the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) epidemic in 2003, health care workers, individuals diagnosed with SARS, and people exposed to SARS patients exhibited depressive as well as anxiety- and stressrelated symptoms [2, 3]. Among these stress symptoms, trauma-related stress symptoms were. Impact of Event Scale-COVID19 found to be common in 10 to 36% of health care workers and diagnosed SARS patients [3,4,5,6,7] These trauma-related stress symptoms persisted over time and were still present 13 to 26 months after the outbreak [8]. Similar findings have been reported during the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) outbreak: 7.8% of healthcare workers who were involved in the treatment and diagnosis of MERS exhibited trauma-related stress symptoms [9]
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